ORONO, Maine — A $12.3 million National Science Foundation grant awarded to the University of Maine will help teachers at 48 middle and high schools in Maine redesign their physical science curricula.

ELLSWORTH, Maine — Hurricane Earl continued to march north Thursday, setting coastal residents on edge from North Carolina to Maine and prompting federal officials to warn the public to make contingency plans as soon as possible.

Saying state courts already are understaffed and underfunded, Chief Justice Leigh Saufley says the courts can identify only $85,000 in savings out of a target of nearly $494,000 in cuts for the remainder of this budget year.

BREWER, Maine — Paul LePage and Eliot Cutler may have been addressing a room full of loggers, pulp mill operators and professional foresters Thursday night. But many of the questions asked of the two gubernatorial candidates could have come from virtually any small-business owner in Maine.

A consortium of 31 states led by Susan Gendron, Maine's former education commissioner, has won a $160 million federal award to remake standardized testing, the U.S. Department of Education said Thursday.

MIAMI, Fla. -- Forecasters say Hurricane Earl is bringing tropical storm conditions to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and winds around its eye are still at 105 mph. Earl had weakened throughout the day but even its edges were packing powerful winds early Friday as it heads up the Eastern Seaboard.

There's $10 billion for schools in the state aid bill Congress passed last month. But some school systems have reason to wonder whether they are going to see the money.